What was the gimmick that you thought would never succeed, yet it succeeded big time?

[justtxyank]

Hmm I have to chose the one and only Goldberg I guy who came out in black boots trucks and win his match quicker then most divas these days do for early half of as career, yawn then when he got somewhat a personality at the end of wcw and his wwe run he looked like such a clown trying to match wits with Rock , HHH , Austin who would of guessed him that far at least Stone Cold in the black gear was cool he had the key Goldberg was missing a personality that you could cheer boo just enjoy

I can tell you didn't like Shane Douglas during his teacher gimmick days.

Anyway, for me it was The Undertaker. Such a stupid gimmick. Can't believe it worked the way it did for as long as it did.

 

[jpickens]

Never thought the Undertaker would go far another one was The Missing Link although Dewy never won any major championships with it the gimmick was pretty successful and did last longer than I thought it would.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Santino is certainly the most recent gimmick that I can think of that has got over so well when I didn't expect it to.

There is always room for comedy on a wrestling show. If you look back throughout history there has always been the "less serious" characters designed to get a chuckle from the crowd, and that is where I thought Santino would fit in.

When he became the comedy style character, with the hilarious accent I thought he had found his niche, and would remain as a comedy jobber, winning the occasional match but would stay over with the fans for a few years before being released and noone really caring.

However, I was really surprised to see just how popular Santino has become. I know he won the IC title on his debut, but he wasnt a comedy figure then, but he has since been Tag Team Champion, is the current US Champion and has done really well in a Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber and is scheduled to be in the MITB Ladder match in a few weeks.

Fair play to Santino, he plays his role brilliantly but it still shocks me how far he has come.

 

[Killercam]

A few that haven't been said: Mabel, 123 kid, Rhakishi (aka headshrinker Fatu as a singles competitor), road dogg Jesse James (especially starting off as Jeff jarretts sidekick that didn't wrestle his first match for nearly a year) and last but not least, after a year of being one of the biggest disappointments in wwf history (despite a god awful intercontinental run) rocky Miavia.

 

[Brick Heck]

Honestly, I didn't think in 1990 that Undertaker would have retained the same gimmick for the better part of 22 years and be as successful with it as he has.

 

[jpickens]

Val Venus pegged this guy to be just a novelty act I mean come on a wrestler with a porn star gimmick that just shouts out not to be taken seriously but he proved to be a solid upper mid card wrestler kinda like Santino but minus the puppet.

 

[The Death Rattle]

To me this list has to begin with Rikishi. Seriously, you try to explain that to someone who doesn't follow wrestling. He was an overweight Samaon man, dyed blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, and attired in a black thong. He danced and was well known for shoving his barely covered, dimpled ass into his opponent's face. That move was lovingly called "the stinkface". Somehow, that made people cheer him. Oh yeah, and he was an associate and dance partner with two goofy white guys who called themselves "Too Cool". Well, until he was turned into a patriotic criminal who ran down another wrestler to help another Samaon wrestler. Wow, just wow. Thong wearing fatty indeed.